Use a custom Android home screen

February 8, 2011

Transcript

-One of the best things about the Android platform is that it's both customizable and modular.
This means that users can really get in there and change the interface to meet their own personal needs.
I'm not just talking about a simple wallpaper swap.
Today, I'm gonna show you how to transform your entire Android home screen with just a few clicks.
The first thing you're gonna wanna do is actually figure out which custom home launcher you're gonna wanna use.
Now, of those available, there are launchers that totally revamp the idea what the home screen looks like, like slide screen.
There are some that add features and widgets but look more or less familiar like ADW launcher and LauncherPro and still others that exist nearly to enhance performance such as Zeam.
We'll be using Slide Screen because the visual change makes it easy to illustrate what we're doing.
But regardless of the launcher you choose, the steps will be more or less the same.
Head over to the Android market and download your launcher.
When the download is complete, you'll need to launch your new launcher.
Whether than jumping into the app drawer like you would with any other app, simply hit the home button.
You'll be presented with a list asking you to choose which app to associate with the home button.
You simply choose the launcher of your choice and you'll be greeted with your new home screen.
Now, you're not gonna wanna go through this manual selection of launchers after every home button press.
So once you're happy with your launcher of choice, hit the Use By Default button to lock in your selection.
Now, if you ever decide that you wanna go back to your default home screen, simply hit into the settings menu and select applications, then look for Manage Applications.
Scroll down to your selected launcher in the list of your downloaded apps and tap it.
Now, look for the button that says Clear Default, and the next time you hit the home key, you'll be re-prompted to Select Your Default Home Launcher or you could simply uninstall the custom launcher like any other app to reset the home back to the defaults.
Now, you have one more way to customize your Android phone for an interface that works the way you want it.
Check out the Android Atlas blog for even more Android tips and tricks and CNET TV for more how-to videos.
This has been Antuan Goodwin with cnet.com showing you how it's done.